Comments

No human being is whiter than white and I have many personal flaws. This being said in being involved both in single issue campaigning and as a member of a local political party I have picked up that there is a subculture of contentment bordering on arrogance on the part of many councillors. Once elected they are not held to be accountable enough for non attendance at meetings and some don't even send in apologies. I had the privilege of being invited to Mayor Ron Clarke's inauguration at the town hall a month or two ago (Ron does a brilliant job as a borough and county councillor and works his socks off) and to witness what went on at a public council meeting on stage amongst our elected representatives was shambolic. I saw many of them leave the stage looking smug and immediately start looking at the Twitter messages of insult that they had been firing at each other earlier in the day. If they were committed to working for the good of Burton they would get themselves into gear and attend things like next Tuesday's non partisan community mental health event at Café Zen at 1.30pm. They don't because there's no immediate political capital to be made out of having a healthy discussion and a bit like road rage, its easier to fire off messages over Twitter or under a pseudonym on this Mail website (because they haven't got the guts to stand by comments made). Worryingly, they are socialised into this culture and come to see it as the norm, believing and even telling others like myself that this is THE way to do politics and the only way at that. I'm not so sure....